The Difference Between Product Management and Project Management

I wish I had a dollar for every time over my 20+ years in product management that someone has called what I do “project management.” Even though the practice has been around for about 90 years and has become an essential part of technology product companies over the past couple of decades, many people still don’t know what product management is and how it differs from project management. Hopefully, this article helps a few people understand some of the basic differences between the two roles.

ProDUct Management is responsible for creating and managing a successful product throughout its life cycle, which begins at inception and continues until the product is retired from the market. Product managers are outcome-oriented with a primary goal of delivering long-term business value to their company through providing value to its customers.

Product managers understand market dynamics, customer behavior and industry trends to identify opportunities for new products or enhancements to existing ones. They leverage those insights to develop a product strategy and tactics that align with both market needs and company strategy.

They build organizational alignment by articulating the “why” behind product decisions. They collaborate with engineering teams to build solutions to market problems, owning the “what” while empowering the engineers to determine “how” to address those market needs. Product managers partner with marketing, sales, customer support and other departments to assure the product’s success in the market.

Product managers may also develop go-to-market strategies that encompass product positioning, pricing, distribution channels, and marketing tactics. Those things could also be done by product marketing, but that’s a topic for another article.

ProJEct Management is centered around planning, executing, and delivering specific projects within predefined constraints, such as scope, budget, and timeline. Projects have a defined beginning and end, with clear objectives to achieve.

Project managers are focused on delivering the project's objectives within the specified constraints by allocating resources, managing timelines, and mitigating risks. They emphasize efficiency, coordination, and adherence to a project plan to achieve successful outcomes. Project managers liaise with stakeholders to communicate project progress, address concerns, and ensure alignment with expectations.

Projects have a defined beginning and end, unlike products which have ongoing life cycles. Whereas a product manager continues to manage a product for the duration of its life, the project manager is constantly starting and completing projects over time.

As part of their roles, product managers do a fair amount of project management, but they often work closely with project managers, which could have a variety of other titles, in the execution of their product-related initiatives.

If you’re in Orange County, CA and would like to join a discussion about the role of product management and how it relates to other roles in your company, OC Product Managers will be hosting a free Peer Solution Workshop at Centercode in Laguna Hills on Wednesday, April 24. Visit ocproductmanagers.org to learn more and register.

If your company is struggling to define roles relating to building, growing and managing products, leave me a note in the chat below or visit Align Product Strategies so we can explore whether we can provide some clarity and direction.

#productmanagement #projectmanagement

See also:

The Difference Between Product Manager and Product Owner

The Difference Between Product Management and Product Marketing